Google’s much anticipated “over-optimization” algorithm update has been released. It was originally thought this new update would be called “Venice.” But in keeping the tradition of other updates that were named for animals (…think Panda), the search giant named this update “Penguin.”
We did have some forewarning this update was coming. As we discussed a little over a month ago, Google’s spam chief Matt Cutts was asked at the SXSW Conference what Google was doing about “overly-optimized” sites. Although it isn’t customary for Cutts and Google to announce an update ahead of time, he went on to explain how the search giant was planning an algorithmic update to deal with this issue.
So what is overly-optimized content?
In the context of the Penguin update, this can include content stuffed with keywords, shady link building and other practices. According to a report in Search Engine News and SEO Moz, sites negatively affected by the update likely have one or more of the following:
- Low-quality or “spun” content
- Questionable linking practices
- Overuse of exact-match domains
- Aggressive use of exact-match anchor text
- Keyword stuffing in internal/outbound links
Below is an example from Google’s Webmaster Central Blog of a site with unusual linking patterns and excessive use of keywords. Notice how the links have no relation to the content.
Courtesy of Google Webmaster Central blog
Best we and others can tell the update was rolled out to all languages simultaneously on April 24th. For searches in English, it’s estimated around 3.1% of queries were affected. To compare, the initial phase of Google’s Panda update affected 12% of searches done in English but in the beginning, Google said it would only affect 3% of searches.
But someone else’s loss could be someone else’s gain. Many sites who are not affected indeed improve their position following updates like Penguin.
From updates like Penguin and Panda, we can discern that Google prefers branded sites – early reports too indicate that sites with a good link profile survived the latest algorithmic update. We all know how Google has been targeting spam, unnatural links and low-quality sites for a long time. This latest “update” is simply a continuation down that road.
Penguin is a lot like Panda in that it is an “algorithmic” update – meaning that if you were affected, submitting a reconsideration request with Google won’t get you very far. Basically what you have to do is remove the spam, clean up your site and wait for a data refresh and re-crawl.
That of course can take weeks.
If you feel your site was caught in the filter by mistake, there is a form you can complete to petition Google. You can also visit your Webmaster Tools account or use Google’s Webmaster Forum to inquire about your site.
It’s suggested however that you be real careful in pursuing these options. Be absolutely sure your site doesn’t have an issue with it to cause it to be legitimately filtered during an update.
Check back with us again in the next couple of weeks as we explore things that can trigger a loss in rankings through algorithmic updates.
Was your site affected by the Penguin update?
If so, what was the issue and what are you doing to address it?
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